Tag: OFF!

We all know Ty Segall likes a good ol’ knees up ’round the old Joanna, dipping his psychedelic toes into side projects and collaborations under the guise of Fuzz, The Traditional Fools, Sic Alps, White Fence and many more, not to mention eight studio albums under his own name.

Today, we discover Segall’s involvement in a new band called Broken Bat, and it’s quite possibly the most exciting super group you’ll hear about this year. Featuring Segall himself, the Melvins’ Dale Crover on drums, and OFF!/Redd Kross bassist Steven McDonald, the trio have just revealed a teaser song snippet on BandCamp titled ‘Take My Medicine’.

It’s OFFicial. The Battle of the Black Flag’s has started. It seems that there was a reason behind Greg Ginn reforming Black Flag for a show at the UK’s Hevy Festival last week. Ex members not involved in Ginn’s reformed project of Black Flag have formed another project called ‘FLAG’. You can imagine Greg Ginn’s reaction to hearing this news. Steam most likely pumped from his ears and the reaction was to counter act and do his own thing.

‘FLAG’ is made up of Keith Morris on vocals, Chuck Dukowski on bass, Bill Stevenson on drums and Stephen Egerton on guitar. We wonder if Rollins will have the cheek to start a third project with the remaining members not in these two projects as don’t forget, Black Flag had many people playing alongside Ginn over the years. Probably not, but what a palava.

This gig starts early, really early. We arrived just before 8pm, and opening (local) band Gnarwolves had already played. Yeah, that early! And then maybe 20 minutes later Trash Talk takes to the stage. My mate Tony confirms we last saw them in Brighton in 2008 (supporting Paint it Black) – jeez, time flies. One thing’s for sure, Trash Talk have been going hard at it in the meantime, with relentless touring and recording that has gained them a strong young fan base, which is evident tonight. From the opening brutish chords, band and front stage crowd go off. Ok, I’ll be honest; much of Trash Talk’s short, blunt, metallic hardcore doesn’t have that killer impact on me that it promises to, but they are still a captivating live act, amped on anger and loaded with surly attitude.

I managed to catch OFF! on their initial blaze thru the UK last summer, but the gig I went to in Portsmouth was in a huge room, far too big for the show, with a small crowd, stage barriers, lacking atmosphere – a situation not conducive to a good night you’d think. Wrong! OFF! were ace, and we drove home stoked on having witnessed a very great band. So, in the much tighter and more populated confines of The Haunt, they are gonna be really great, right? Right! If, like me, you’ve had the OFF! 7”s and recent album on steady rotation, then you pretty much know you are in for a salvo of fast, tight, belligerent hardcore heavily inspired by the music singer Keith Morris originally cut his chops on, way back in the midst of time, but is delivered in 2012 sounding fresh and totally revitalised. And that’s down to the 3 fellow band members he’s aligned with, all accomplished musicians in their own right, and totally on it in keeping up the intensity.

4 songs bursts are interjected by Keith’s thoughts and anecdotes, and it’s good to know he’s still questioning and refusing to accept what his Government tells him. In other words; Punk Rock. Memories of his long deceased buddy Jeffrey Lee Pierce still cast a shadow on Keith, who questioned whether The Gun Club ever played in Brighton. I can confirm they did, late ’82, or early ’83 at The New Regent in West Street, which is now just another shitty bar, but back then was a hot bed of activity. Ack… the stories I could tell. Meanwhile, back at The Haunt, and approx 50 minutes after they started, OFF! departs to rapturous applause from the crowd… and we gather outside in the fading light, and acknowledge we have just seen a very great band. Intense, in your face and on the road with a vengeance, go see them!

OFF! are back with a full album full of raging hardcore this summer and have unleashed a video to the track ‘Wiped Out‘ to give you a taste of what’s coming.

Last year’s release of First Four EP’s saw the band emerge with one of the most explosive punk rock records we have heard in a while, so you should be stoked when you hear the news that this new self-titled album coming via Vice Records has 16 tracks stuffed into just 16 minutes!

Fronted by Keith Morris (Black Flag/Circle Jerks), OFF! will be charging into the UK in June to play a full UK tour with the full album dropping on May 7th. Get a taster of Wiped Out and get hyped.

Hardcore graced London’s XOYO club last night with OFF!, Fucked Up and Cerebral Ballzy all raging through a night of chaos in the capital. Watch 6 minutes of Keith Morris’ OFF! right here from the show.

If you want to see them before they jet home, they play the Old Blue Last tomorrow night with Pettybone. Info on fb here.

As well as playing dates with Trash Talk and Fucked Up, the band which features Keith Morris (Black Flag/Circle Jerks), Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides), Steven McDonald (Redd Kross) and Mario Rubalcaba (Earthless/Hot Snakes/Rocket From the Crypt) will be hitting Hevy Festival and Reading and Leeds.

Here are the full dates and below is a live video of Full Of Shit to get you in the mood.

Hevy Festhave announced more bands to appear on their line-up for this year’s event.

The Festival, which takes place on August 5th-8th has already announced Four Year Strong, Funeral For A Friend and The Ghost Of A Thousand [their last ever show, sob sob] and these bands will be joined by:

Trash Talk (the band performed their first ever festival appearance at Hevy last year)
OFF! (with Keith Morris from Black Flag)
Title Fight
The Xcerts
While She Sleeps
More Than Life
Me Vs Hero
Arcane Roots